REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (Reuters) - Days after his wife vanished, Scott Peterson called his lover and pretended to be in Europe, saying he wanted to kill a barking dog and praising the horror film "The Shining," according to secretly taped phone conversations played in court on Wednesday.

The tapes were made during a series of telephone conversations between Peterson and his mistress Amber Frey in January of 2003 and played for jurors during her testimony in his trial for murder.

Frey cooperated with police after learning that Peterson had a pregnant wife, Laci, who disappeared on Dec. 24, 2002.

Peterson is accused of killing his wife and unborn son in a case that has transfixed much of America. The 31-year-old fertilizer salesman could face the death penalty if convicted.

In the taped conversations, Peterson is heard pretending to be in Brussels and other European cities as he speaks to Frey from his home in the central California agricultural hub of Modesto -- while in the background his golden retriever barks incessantly.

"There is this (expletive) dog next to this hotel," Peterson tells Frey while speaking to her on New Year's Day. Later, he adds: "Oh I want to kill it."

During a phone conversation the following day, Peterson urges Frey to rent the 1994 film "Love Affair," a 1994 remake that featured Warren Beatty and Annette Bening as star-crossed lovers. Frey responds that it's an "odd request."

A few days later, in another chat session that was recorded by Frey, Peterson raves over the 1980 Stanley Kubrick horror film "The Shining" -- in which a writer played by Jack Nicholson becomes unhinged and tries to kill his wife with an ax -- calling it "the best movie ever made."

Prosecutors, who accuse Peterson of murdering Laci and dumping her body into San Francisco Bay, hope to convince jurors that he was motivated at least in part by an infatuation with Frey.

Channel 4 has assembled look-a-likes of The Shining's cast and crew members.

Channel 4 has painstakingly recreated the set of Stanley Kubrick horror film The Shining, complete with look-a-likes of the crew and cast members including Shelley Duvall, for a TV ad to promote a More 4 season of the director's films.

The 65-second promotional spot has been filmed as a one-take tracking shot through the recreation of The Shining set.

Viewers get Kubrick's point of view as he walks through the set, ending up in his director's chair as the crew prepare to shoot the famous scene of Danny Torrance, the son of Duvall and Jack Nicholson's characters, riding round and round the deserted corridors of the Overlook Hotel.

The promo, filmed as a single tracking shot with a cast of 55 actors, was meticulously researched to "remain as faithful as possible to the period in which it was shot and the culture of the British studio in the late 1970s".

Channel 4 Creative Services, the broadcaster's in-house creative resource, cast people who resembled Kubrick's own crew including his script lady, assistant director and director of production, John Alcott, who also worked on films including 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange with the director.

Look-a-likes were also found for Duvall, Danny Lloyd, who played Danny Torrance, and the twin girls who appear fleetingly in the film.

Most of the equipment that appears in the promotional clip was actually used in the filming of The Shining.

Many of the props that appear, including the tricycle and Kubrick's script, were produced for the promotional clip based on photos or sketches from the late director's archives.

The spot, which was shot over two days at London's Bray Studios, was filmed using a 25mm Cooke lens – a favourite of Kubrick's.

It promotes the season of 10 Kubrick films to be broadcast on More 4 from July 15.

Jon Ronson's documentary, Citizen Kubrick, will air ahead of the start of the first film.

The promotional clip will run across Channel 4 and More 4 in the run up to the start of the season.

Some people have a fear of snakes. That was a somewhat rational fear. And you could do something about it at least. Stay away from long grass and nature documentaries. Easy. Others have a fear of heights. That was manageable too. Avoid tall ladders. But how do you cope when your fear is something you can’t avoid? That you have no hope of staying away from? Being afraid of the sky, where are you going to go?